Water Cooling

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1 Watercooling

Watercooling

Since computer enthusiasts have been around, they've been interested in getting components faster, more powerful, and almost most importantly, colder. Obviously, when computer chips are pushed faster, this requires more voltage to go through them to enable them to hit these speeds, and as such, the temperature they operate at can sky rocket. Eventually, it got to a point where good ol' air cooling just wasn't enough. Enter: watercooling.

Watercooling is used as a more extreme alternative to air cooling. There are several versions of it, such as chilled water, but the usual set up involves basic distilled water and an additive of your choice to prevent corrosion and/or bacterial growth buildup in the tubes. The temperatures on the chips can go down close to ambient, but the most impressive part is the control over load temperatures. With air cooling, temperatures can rise to very hot values while the chip is being stressed; but with watercooling, the load temps are kept under control a lot better, which allows you to push the chip even further.

The basic watercooling setup usually involves the following: a pump, a radiator/heatercore, waterblocks of your choice [CPU, GPU, chipset, etc...], fans and a shroud for the radiator/heatercore, a reservoir/t-line to store the excess water, and good tubing to route around the case. In some cases, there are some radical waterblocks such as RAM blocks, hard drive blocks, or even a PSU block, but those are hardly used and usually end up hurting the watercooling loop because they add more restriction to the flow. People mix and match components to get the kit they want, but those are the general parts that go into a watercooling setup.

The following page will go into detail on watercooling, such as the specifics of each component, some basic principles of fluid dynamics, ideal and budget setups, and maybe even some reviews on certain products.

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Important Components

Maze 4 GPU waterblock, made and designed by DangerDen

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Waterblocks

Swiftech Storm CPU Waterblock, originally designed by Cathar

The waterblock is a component made out of some sort of metal. Its purpose is to remove heat from the heat source and put said heat into the water. The most common and best material for waterblocks is copper, as it does not become corroded like aluminum will. Water flows through the copper block without touching the actual computer component, for the most part. Some extreme coolers have made direct die waterblocks, but the water seeps into the CPU and destroys it. Waterblocks can be made for any type of heat source, such as CPU's, GPU's, Power regulators, RAM, Hard Drives, chipset, etc, however CPU and GPU are the only things that usually cooled, as other components don't typically need it to reach their maximum potential.

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Pumps

Eheim 1260

The pump is used to provide flow through the watercooling system. Passive systems have been made, but these are not common or particularly good at cooling. Most pumps used in watercooling are not made specifically for watercooling, but are adapted from other areas such as aquariums and such. Two main numbers to be concerned with are Flow (GPH/LPH) and Head Pressure. The flow is how fast the pump can move water with absolutely no restriction on the intake or output. Head Pressure is how high the pump is able to push water at 0 gallons per minute.

Note that head pressure has no relation to vertical height in a closed system, and the length of tubing has little to do with the head pressure (1/2" inside diameter tubing, for example, provides 3" of resistance for every 3 feet, at 1 gallon per minute).

Most common pumps are the Swiftech MCP350/Dangerden DDC, Aquaextreme 50-Z, and MCP 655/Dangerden D5 models. The CSP-MAG pump, sold by Dangerden among others, is a rising pump, but the company's last product, the CSP-750, was horrible for longevity, so they have a fairly bad reputation right now.

Pre-modded 1977 Bonneville Heatercore from Dangerden

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Radiators

The purpose of the radiator is to remove heat from the water and out into the open air. There are several types of watercooling radiators, including made for PC radiators and heatercores. Purpose built computer radiators are generally the choice of most due to their ease of fan mouting, asthetics, and easier to manage size. Heatercores are by no means a bad choice though, as you can buy a 1977 Chevrolet Bonneville heatercore at any local auto parts store for roughly $20. Then you can attach 1/2" barbs to it, and you have a nice radiator that cools roughly as well as most high end 120.2 radiators (short of the PA120.2) Guides for this purpose are floating around the interweb, and here is one such article Modding a heatercore at OCModShop

Some Common Purpose Built Radiators:

ThermoChill PA Series: PA160, PA120.2; PA120.3
Black Ice Pro Series: I, II; III
Swiftech Quiet Power Series: MCR-120, MCR-220; MCR-320 [All models can accept 1/2" & 3/8" barbs, except for the MCR-120, which has built in 3/8" barbs.]
Black Ice Xtreme Series: I, II, III [These require high CFM, and perform on par with the Pro series.]
ThermoChill HE Series: HE120.1, HE120.2; HE120.3 [These require high CFM, and have performance less than the PA series.]
Black Ice GTS Stealth Series: GTS 120, GTS 240; GTS 360
Black Ice GTX Xtreme Series: GTX 120, GTX 240; GTX 360

Reccomendations from the above list depend on the user's preferances as to price vs performance. Here is the general consensus:

ThermoChill PA Series
Swiftech Quiet Power MCR Series
Black Ice Pro Series

From highest price / best performance, to lowest price / lowest performance. Note that the performance difference from best to worse is roughly 3C - 4C. Restriction however ranges considerably, as the ThermoChill is considerably less restrictive than any other radiator on the market.

There are obviously more radiators, these are just the ones that we have enough quantifiable data to compare these accurately. Avoid radiators that are passive, contain alumiunum, and contain large numbers of 90° bends.

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Shrouds

The purpose of a shroud is to eliminate the deadspot of a fan (where the motor is) and spread airflow out evenly over a radiator. Such shrouds have the added advantage of making fan mounting more easy, aswell as a (relatively) small performance gain.

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Tubing

There are several different types of tubing available. 3/8th inch and 1/2 inch Inner Diameter (denoted by ID) are most common. For the watercoolers purposes, clearflex is all that is needed (Tygon is signifigantly more money for the only benefit of resistance to algae and its slightly better bend radius). Tubing also has an Outer Diameter (OD) rating. The most common tubing is 3/8in ID with 1/2in OD and 1/2in ID and 3/4in OD. Generally, the thicker the tubing wall, the more kink resistant, but less flexible.

Recently MasterKleer 7/16" tubing came into use, as it has a larger ID with a thinner OD. Making it easier to bend, and retaining the look that some like of smaller tubing, without having to compromise anything. MasterKleer is also cheaper than anything on the market, at roughly $0.50 a foot, so its a better alternative than the rigid PVC tubing found in most hardware stores. The only downside being that it can be a pain to get over 1/2" barbs. A few tips include:

Heat water and dip the tubing into it.
Use pliers to temporarily stretch the tubing a bit.
Use a heat gun / blow drier to temporarily heat the tubing.
Use soap / coolant to lubricate the inside of the tubing and the outside of the barbs.

Heating the tubing makes it more pliable, and lubricating the tubing makes it slider onto the barbs more easily.

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Coolant

Coolant is an essential part of a good liquid cooling loop, as it can prevent corrosion and / or help to stop algae from growing within the loop. Common mixes are listed below.

Common mixes include:

Distilled Water & Drops of Iodine Distilled Water & Anti-Freeze [85% - 90% Distilled & 10% - 15% Anti-Freeze]

Premixed solutions and nonconductive solutions are also available, liquids in watercooling systems are generally a mixture of 90% distilled water and 10% antifreeze, but these tend (that is, all those in existence today) to be worse than 90/10 water/antifreeze homemade mix at cooling, while costing several times more. Nonconductive solutions lose their nonconductive nature upon coming in contact with the copper blocks found in watercooling loops, making it rather pointless.

Redline Water Wetter was in favour for a while, but then reports of it leaving long white strands of scum in water cooling systems surfaced, and it generally went out of use. This stuff is not recommended any more - avoid it if you can.

Anti-Freeze's main use in watercooling is its ability to help prevent corrosion, but if you are not mixing metals in your loop this measure is not necessary, so Iodine is a cheaper alternative and works exactly the same. Other products include using common anti-algae additives, but be warned large concentrations of copper sulfate or chloride are not advised.

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Reservoir/T-line

A reservoir is just a tank in the system in which air is caught (extra air in your loop is bad). However, reservoirs cost more than T-Lines, and acrylic reservoirs have the tendency to crack. The T-line is fairly cheap, but it takes considerably longer to bleed the system, and a reservoir set up right before the pump may increase flow slightly. It does not have to be at the highest point in the system. The High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) reservoirs sold by Dangerden, Swiftech, and Dtek generally do not crack. Swiftech and Dangerden both have a version that accomodates a DDC/MCP 350 in the same 5.25" bay.

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Part Recommendations

In this section, there will be recommended setups for you depending on what your budget is. Included will be a budget setup, a mid-range setup, and an high end setup where money is no option. All of these setups are going to include a T-line instead of a reservoir because of its effectiveness and price; the same mixture of coolant is going to be used through each option as well. Also, the performance difference between each setup is minimal: 2-3C tops, but thats a liberal guess.

Budget Setup

This is for people who are on a very strict budget but still want the effectiveness of watercooling.

CPU Block: Swiftech Apogee / AquaXtreme IceFlow / AquaXtreme WhiteWater
GPU Block: <none>
Pump: Eheim 1250 / Laing D5 (Swiftech MCP655 / Danger Den D5) / AquaXtreme 50z
Radiator: Self-modded heatercore or Pre-modded heatercore (single available for ~30$, double for ~35$ (double is worth the extra 5 bucks, if you can fit it)
Fans: 2 120MM generic fans of your choice
Tubing: Home Depot or Clearflex ½” ID or MasterKleer 7/16" with steel worm clamps (available at Home Depot for ~0.75 a piece)
TIM: Arctic Silver 5 or Ceramique
Coolant: Distilled Water [80-90%] & Anti-Freeze [10-20%] or Distilled Water & Iodine
Accessories: Polypropylene T-fitting, 2x120MM shroud, water dye [optional]

This is a more budget minded setup, that doesn't compromise where the money is needed to be put. Any of the CPU blocks will work well, and the GPU blocks have been left out, as to lower the prices. Between the Laing D5 / 50z it comes down to personal preferance, and the Eheim is only for people who are either on a strict budget or are looking for the absolute most silent system possible. However if this is your aim then please look into the Laing DDC (Swiftech MCP350)

Mid-Range Setup

Here is your average, very effective setup that won’t cost you your first born child.

CPU Block: Swiftech Apogee GT / D-Tek Fuzion
GPU Block: Swiftech MCW60 & RAM Sinks
Pump: Laing D5 (Swiftech MCP655 / Danger Den D5) / AquaXtreme 50z
Radiator: Swiftech MCR-220 & MCR-320 / Black Ice Pro II & III / Heatercore
Fans: 120MM fans of your choice
Tubing: Clearflex ½” ID / MasterKleer 7/16" with clamps, either steel worm drive or nylon
TIM: Arctic Silver 5 or Ceramique
Coolant: Distilled Water [80-90%] & Anti-Freeze [10-20%] or Distilled Water & Iodine
Accessories: Polypropylene T-fitting or HDPE Reservoir, 2x120MM shroud [optional], water dye [optional], Swiftech MCB-120 [optional]

This is a good performing setup, that won't break your bank. Performs within a few degrees of the higher end watercooling, but costs considerably less money.

High End Setup

This is the system that you could build if money was no option. Basically consider it a “dream” setup.

CPU Block: Storm G5/G7 [made by Cathar]/ Swiftech Storm Rev. 2 / Swiftech Apogee GT / D-Tek Fuzion
GPU Block: Swiftech MCW60 & RAM Sinks
Pump: Iwaki RD-30 / Laing DDC+ 18w & Petra's Top
Radiator: ThermoChill PA120.3
Tubing: Tygon ½” ID or MasterKleer 7/16" with steel worm-drive clamps
TIM: Arctic Silver 5 or Ceramique
Coolant: Distilled Water [80-90%] & Anti-Freeze [10-20%] or Distilled Water & Iodine
Accessories: Polypropylene T-fitting or HDPE Reservoir, water dye [optional]

The best CPU block varies depending on the CPU being used. On CPU's without IHS's or CPUs in which the IHS has been removed the Storm is the best block. However on CPUs with IHS's or current generation quad core CPU's blocks like the Apogee GT and Fuzion perform better, and have the added bonuses of costing less / being considerably less restrictive.

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